After much fanfare, Comes With Music launched in October 2008 in just one country, with others following quietly as the months rolled by. Delaying the U.S. launch "may indicate that the reception has been pretty lukewarm," the report said.

The service lets Nokia handset owners download an unlimited number of DRM-encoded music tracks over a period of 12 to 18 months. Analysts speculated in the report that Nokia hadn't provided enough financial incentive for carriers to get on board with the deal. Nokia's current market share stands at just 7 percent in the U.S., compared with 38 percent (and the top position) on a global basis.